Factors associated with alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use among Brazilian undergraduate students

Abstract

Objectives: to analyze the factors associated with the use of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs among Brazilian undergraduate students. Methods: observational, cross-sectional study, with convenience sampling, conducted in 2014/2015, involving institutional data and a self-completed online questionnaire, analyzed using measures of frequency, central tendency/dispersion and logistic regression. Results: among 126,326 students, 62.8% reported alcohol use; 11%, tobacco; and 7.5%, illicit drugs. Several academic factors-such as not residing with family (sororities [alcohol: aOR:2.38;95%CI:2.28-2.48; tobacco: AOR:2.20;95%CI:2.09-2.33; illicit drugs: AOR:2.53;95%CI:2.38-2.70]), acting in university movements (student [alcohol: AOR:1.74;95%CI:1.65-1.83; tobacco: AOR:1.97;95%CI:1.86-2.08; illicit drugs: AOR:2.43;95%CI:2.28-2.59] and religious [alcohol: AOR:0.28;95%CI:0.26-0.29; tobacco: AOR:0.23;95%CI:0.21-0.26; illicit drugs: AOR:0.18;95%CI:0.16-0.21]) and lack of discipline/study habit (alcohol: AOR:1.41;95%CI:1.37-1.45; tobacco: AOR:1.53;95%CI:1.46-1.59; illicit drugs: AOR:1.85;95%CI:1.76-1.94) - were associated with the use of the three categories of substances. Conclusions: we identified that a number of academic factors are associated with licit and illicit drug use. These findings may help in designing preventive strategies among college students.

Abusive Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages and Associated Factors in Brazilian University Students

“…Although some studies have analyzed alcohol consumption in students in the health area (Baumgarten et al, 2012; Freire et al, 2020; Pelicioli et al, 2017; Pires et al, 2020; Rodríguez-Muñoz et al, 2020), few studies have compared this consumption between areas of knowledge and observed a higher prevalence in students from other areas when compared with the health area (Brazil. National Secretariat for Drug Policies, 2010; Simplício et al, 2021). We hypothesize that the abusive consumption of alcoholic beverages is greater among students in other areas (including courses in the areas of mathematics, science, and humanities) and that the associations with sociodemographic and behavioral factors are stronger in these students when compared with those in the health area.…”